Ballerina Coloring Pages

Ballet is one of the few things a small child can see on a stage and then try in the living room the same evening. These ballerina coloring pages follow a dancer's whole world, the lesson, the practice, the dressing room and the performance, so there is a page for the child who dreams of the stage and one for the child already going to class.

The studio comes first. A teacher gently corrects the arm of a little pupil, a row of young pupils stands at the barre seen from behind, a dancer stretches one leg along the barre by tall windows, another practices beside her reflection in the mirror, two dancers stretch on the floor to warm up, and one pulls knitted leg warmers over her tights. Behind the scenes, a dancer ties her ribbons in the changing room, another sews ribbons onto a new pointe shoe, a pair of pointe shoes hangs from a hook, a dressing table holds a hair net, pins and a bowl of rosin, a rack of tutus waits on hangers, and a ballerina rests in the wings while a stagehand pulls a rope. A little dancer watches an older one through an open doorway.

The stage has the famous roles. The swan wears a feathered tutu and crown, the Sugar Plum Fairy dances among giant candy canes, a snowflake wears icicles, the firebird trails flame sleeves and long feathers, and a Spanish dancer twirls a tiered skirt with a rose in her hair. A male dancer lifts a ballerina high, a partner holds another in an arabesque, the corps de ballet raises its arms in one line, a ballerina holds her bouquet of roses in the spotlight, and the whole company takes its final bow. Some pages leave the theater: a dancer leaping over a puddle, arriving by taxi, balancing on a garden wall, dancing with a fan in the park, under a blossom tree, among giant daisies, beside a grand piano, on a windowsill with a cat, and stretching on a rooftop at sunrise. A music box ballerina, a chibi ballerina and a mandala of tutus, pointe shoes and roses finish the set.

Why ballerinas dance on their toes

Dancing on pointe, on the very tips of the toes, only became common in the 1830s, when ballets about fairies, spirits and swans wanted dancers to look as if they were floating. Pointe shoes are not solid wood, as many children think. The toe is a hard box made of layers of fabric, paper and glue, shaped around the foot, and a stiff sole runs underneath. Dancers sew the ribbons and elastic on themselves, as on one of these pages, and a professional can wear out a pair in a single performance.

Children do not start on pointe. They learn in soft ballet slippers for several years first, until the bones and muscles of the feet are strong enough, usually around eleven or twelve. The little pupil at the barre wears soft shoes; the dancers on stage wear pointe shoes.

Three famous ballets on these pages

Many of the costumes come from real ballets. The swan is from Swan Lake, by Tchaikovsky (1877), about a princess turned into a swan. The Sugar Plum Fairy and the snowflakes are from The Nutcracker, also by Tchaikovsky (1892), performed every December in theaters around the world. The firebird is from The Firebird by Stravinsky (1910), a magical bird with feathers of flame. The words of ballet, like arabesque, plié and pointe, are French, because ballet grew up at the French royal court in the 1600s.

Colors for tutus and costumes

• Tutus: pale pink, white, lilac or powder blue for the classic look. Color the layers of netting lightly, with a darker line along each frill.
• The swan: white, with silver-gray feather tips.
• The Sugar Plum Fairy: lilac, pink and gold.
• The firebird: red, orange and gold, the brightest page of the set.
• Pointe shoes: satin pink, with a soft shine left as white paper along the top.
• Stage curtains: deep red velvet, with the folds shaded darker.

Quick dancers and busy stages

The easiest pages have one dancer or one object on a plain background, like the dancers warming up, the swan and the chibi ballerina. Quick to color, above the grid, begins with:

• Warming up on the floor
• The swan
• The dressing table

The detailed ones are full of petals, candies and rooftops. Lots of detail begins with:

• Tutu mandala
• Rooftop at sunrise
• The Sugar Plum Fairy

A recital program

Before a recital or a dance show, these pages make a program. Fold a sheet of paper in half, color the curtain call or the bouquet page for the cover, and write the names of the dances and the dancers inside. Hand one to each guest at the door. After the show, the little dancer can color the swan or the firebird as a keepsake of her first performance, with the date and the name of the ballet written underneath.

Printing a ballet class

Every page is a free PDF drawn on A4 at 300 dpi. A4 prints at full size, and on US Letter "fit to page" shrinks the drawing by about six percent so the tutus fit on the sheet. The printing guide explains where to find it. Add to pack gathers a whole class into one file. More graceful figures are in the princess coloring pages and the fairy coloring pages, more dresses in the Barbie coloring pages, and more ribbons in the bow coloring pages.